On April 30 of this year, tech journalist Paul Miller made a bold move: He announced that he's going offline for an entire year. He's forsaking all Internet-related activity, and even went so far as to give up his smartphone! He detailed everything he plans to give up by saying:
"Internet use" includes web browsing from any device, asking anyone to web browse for me, surfing the internet over someone's shoulder, and enjoying entertainment streams like Netflix, even if started by someone else. I won't sync my devices over the internet, download software (even operating systems), use internet-verified DRM, or anything like that. I won't manage my bank accounts over the internet, and will attempt to pay my bills manually or over the phone. Unless I'm doing it unknowingly, I won't use VoIP. I'll avoid even having my Wi-Fi on in order to avoid accidental internet use.
Additionally, I'm going to attempt to eliminate my text messaging, at least as far as that's in my power. I know it's not over the internet, but I'm trying to eliminate ambient distractions, and I think SMS tends to be one. To help lower my temptations, I've switched to a dumbphone.
He's a senior editor at The Verge, and has been sending in regular updates about life offline. They're all interesting to read, but the post in this series that most caught my attention was one where he talks about the short-lived high of disconnecting (which he distinguishes as being much different than being disconnected). Miller points out that there's an omnipresent sense of novelty when you first go offline. You've been jolted out of your entrenched routines, and everything in this new life without Facebook status updates and Twitter mentions is fresh to the point of being almost exotic. As I remember from my own internet fast, there's a certain thrill to pulling a book off your shelf in the middle of the day, simply because it's been so long since you've done that kind of thing.
It's like arriving in a new city: It's easy to see the possibilities, since no elements of your normal routine and your old baggage are here in this place. Your mind is energized by unfamiliar sensations and experiences. But then, if you stay in that place long enough, the novelty wears off. What was once exciting becomes routine, and the old habits start to creep back in. They may look different than they did in the old city, but they're motivated by the same forces.
And so it goes when we work to detach from the online world. As Miller mentions in his post, there are plenty of ways to waste time offline (he gave the example of watching four hours of water polo by himself while eating 7-11 donuts). The Internet may be our most alluring distraction, but there are plenty of other ways to throw away endless hours out of our lives -- just ask housewives of previous generations about the lure of soap operas in the '70s and '80s. Miller hits this point home powerfully when he writes:
People ask me if I recommend taking a break from the Internet. I do, but I don't think there's a rubber stamp-able routine...Ultimately, it matters more why you take time off than how you do it. It's not about taking an hour long break from Twitter; it's about what you want to do during that hour that requires you to avoid Twitter. The novelty of cutting the cord only has so much mileage on its own.
I'm a big fan of occasional Internet fasts, and Miller's insights on the subject have given me a new perspective on them. To build on what he says above, even just one day offline -- or even an afternoon avoiding the sites and social media networks that are the biggest lure for you -- can be fruitful if you're doing it in an intentional, thoughtful way in which you direct your energy toward asking what you should be doing with your time, rather than assuming that being disconnected is a solution in and of itself.
I do believe that social media and other distractions borne of the age of hyperconnectivity are more addictive than the distractions available to previous generation. I think that there are special concerns that come with living in Facebook culture, especially for Christians. But I'm reminded by Miller's insights that it's also folly to focus too much on the symptoms (e.g. spending too much time online) and not look at the deeper issues that drive us to, say, check Twitter 20 times a day. Miller emphasizes throughout his updates that now that he's settled into a new routine, he has many of the same struggles he did before his fast; they simply manifest themselves in different ways. As he points out, life offline is "just, you know, life."
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Actually this applies to anything we give up in order to achieve a greater good. Including a real fast- giving up food. I have known too many people who fasted- gave up food for a period- but devoted their free time to watching the clock for when they could start eating again. Or people who even gave up complaining for a time, and stored up the complaints to release when their time was up. Even if a person gives up something objectively bad, like internet porn, it is not going to do them any good unless they give it up to let something better take its place. Jesus told a parable about this, that is not given enough attention. Someone who is a better Bible scholar than I please insert reference. And Madeleine L’Engle addressed this in her book “A Wrinkle in Time”.
I think the most important part of this story is the reminder that it is POSSIBLE to give up internet time. For many people I know it is closer to them than the air they breathe. In taking some children on a field trip recently to see a Shakespeare play I asked that they turn off their phones from the moment that we met at the Metro station. They did as I asked, but were visibly shocked.
Yeah…I’m already introverted going on darn near a hermit, not venturing out unless there’s a really pressing reason. I could tell myself that I would go out more and be social without the internet, but who am I kidding?
This article seems to be an attempted defense against some invisible attack being launched by a powerful army of neo-Luddites. But I suspect this army may be hiding mostly within the conscience of Mrs. Fulwiler.
Thanks Jennifer! Just got rid of my Facebook account and, while still happy with the freedom feeling, need to rightly focus on filling my Facebook-wasted time with meaningful activity.
Well, I stopped watching T.V. about a year ago, don’t even have one that works. Don’t go to movies either, why support the idiots in Hollywood? I do spend a lot of time on the Net., not surfing, mostly on Catholic Answers, EWTN, and Scholastic Philosophy sites. For the rest, I do listen to baseball ( about every night, usually while I’m on Catholic Answers) and I have been reading a lot of St. Thomas, etc. I have never used any of the other ” devices ” you mentioned and I refuse to do ” Face Book, ” I think that is just plain weird. My life is more peaceful now.
I limit facebook and twitter to a quick check-in in the morning- trying for balance- It would be a good idea to do a complete media sabbath once a week, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet
I appreciate the reflection that I need to know “why” I want to take an internet fast. Critical for me because it addresses deeper assumptions and forces them out into the open.
I think this is a wonderful way to spend more time with God. I would like to say I would do it, but I am home 7 days a week unless we go someplace on the weekend, Its like a diary of something to me. Say prayers…missing my daughter.
I came across this post about five minutes after posting a very similar one on Humble Handmaid today! God help us all practice temperance and detachment when it comes to the Internet!
Loved the insights. :)
God bless! -Erin
I do appreciate your article and want to key off one statement. It’s not about the symptoms. I believe true rest comes from the development & maturity of the inner man / woman - herein lies the real struggle. When our interior life is out of whack then symptoms RAGE and we find ourselves living in addictive behaviors like “checking Twitter 20 times a day.” We have to make micro-adjustments and allow our interior lives to flourish first and then we will have something to give to our virtual communities. Until then - give yourself some breaks.
Isn’t this the same blogger who wrote that the Internet will bring in more Christians? Make up your minds!
Well, the key, as with all things, is moderation. Neither the internet nor the television are evil inventions. In fact they can both do a lot of good for education and relaxation, as long as they are used prudently.
A disordered use of both is something I struggle with as a stay-at-home mom. So, at times I’ve had to make rules for myself like “no getting on the computer before noon” in order to avoid allowing myself to be sucked into discussions and avoiding my duties as a parent and homemaker. During Lent I’ve given up internet commenting, and it made me really think about why I commented on things…to add something pertinent to the discussion, hear the sound of my own key strokes, or pick a fight in order to take my frustrations out on some random person on the internet.
The Internet has “brought in” more Christians by engaging them with Christian thinking in ways that previous media ignored. But this doesn’t require an unfettered embrace of the Internet, the point I believe I understood from Jennifer’s blog. I spend most of my day at work on the computer and Internet. Thus, this past year, I found myself totally ignoring it on weekends. I liked the independence from the electronic world and chose to personally engage with real people through phone calls (with human voices on the other end instead of text characters) and neighborhood walks. I am working to build a regular weekly schedule that embraces human connections and non-tech intellectual pursuits (i.e. books and writing,) things that fill my spirit without the aid of electrical current. Jennifer’s points about the purpose that drives our choices is spot on. When the purpose is well-defined, the choices are easy to make.
Keys To Remember:
Moderation
Interior Development
Engagement In All Spheres of Society
As my favorite professor used to say, “It’s a both and proposition” not an either or. Therefore, onward disciples of Jesus & digital missionaries. Rest - Engage - Rest.
Remember, put the phone down when you eat with your family ;)
21centurypilgrim
Those who choose not to read are more ignorant than those who can’t read.
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